Latin America

Updated 5 August, 2025 - 13:49 Gary Manners

Archaeologists working at the Huaca Yolanda archaeological site in Peru's La Libertad region have uncovered an unprecedented 3,000 to 4,000-year-old three-dimensional polychrome mural that is being hailed as a singular discovery in Peruvian archaeology. The remarkable find, measuring 4 meters long and 1.5 meters high, features intricate fish-like motifs with one displaying a body shaped like a 3D fishing net, alongside depictions of plants and stars painted in vibrant blues, yellows, and blacks. This extraordinary double-sided artwork was discovered within the inner wall of an atrium inside a U-shaped temple complex, offering unprecedented insights into the sophisticated artistic techniques and spiritual practices of Peru's Formative period civilizations.

An Unexpected Archaeological Revelation
The discovery was made by a team from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP) and the National University of Trujillo, led by archaeologist Ana Cecilia Mauricio as part of the Early Ecodynamics Archaeological Program of the Chao and Santa Valleys (PRAET). The mural was found partially exposed within what researchers believe to be an intact ceremonial environment that was deliberately buried by its ancient creators to construct new structures above it, a common practice in ancient Peruvian civilizations.

The exceptional preservation of this artistic masterpiece is attributed to this ancient burial, which protected it from centuries of environmental degradation. According to Mauricio, the site represents a rare opportunity to study the interior of a temple dating back more than 3,000 years, complete with its original rich decoration and architectural context intact.



Close-up detail of the three-dimensional polychrome mural showing the fauna depictions. (PUCP via HeritageDaily)

The artwork's unique three-dimensional design sets it apart from other known Formative period murals found in Peru's coastal valleys. While other decorated walls from this era have been discovered in regions such as Casma, Nepeña, and Moche, none exhibit the sophisticated dimensional artistry seen at Huaca Yolanda. The mural's double-sided nature suggests it served as a central element in sacred spaces, likely functioning as a focal point for water and fertility ceremonies that were fundamental to ancient Andean religious practices.

More:
https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/polychrome-mural-peru-0022320

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10 min.Read
Pre-Inca Polychrome Mural at Huaca Yolanda: A 3,000-Year-Old Masterpiece of Stars and Fishes
omgsogd

By
omgsogd

August 13, 2025

They dug a wall and found a storyboard that nobody saw coming.

On July 7, 2025, archaeologists working at Huaca Yolanda on Peru’s northern coast exposed a carved and painted wall panel that dates back roughly three to four thousand years. It’s not just old. It’s audaciously original. Spanning about four meters (roughly 13 feet) and rising over a meter high, the mural was modeled in relief and still shows traces of blue and yellow pigment. Its subjects? Star-like motifs, fish-shaped figures, and net patterns — a watery, celestial narrative carved into the stone of a temple.

What exactly did they find?



Photo source: Pontifical Catholic University of Peru

Imagine a temple wall. Now imagine that wall dressed in shallow sculpted reliefs: some parts raised high, others carved more subtly. The team at Huaca Yolanda revealed a polychrome (multi-colored) mural that combines carved forms with painted decoration. The motifs—fishermen’s nets, fish-like beings, and star imagery—are not run-of-the-mill ornaments. They’re composed with deliberate rhythm. Some elements are repeated like a chorus. Some stand alone like a main character in a short myth. The pigment survives in places: faded bands of yellow and blue cling to crevices, suggesting the whole scene once glittered with color.

Archaeologists think the mural once formed part of an interior atrium or ceremonial room within a temple complex. In short: this is not domestic doodling. It’s public, it’s ritual, and at the time it was made—centuries before the Inca—someone invested skill, material, and symbolic energy into making it.

Dating, style and cultural context
Stylistically, the mural fits into what scholars call the Formative Period on Peru’s northern coast. That’s a long way of saying: groups were moving beyond small villages into larger, organized communities; ritual architecture and large-scale art began to appear; coastal fishing and irrigation agriculture were already shaping lifeways. Based on design and technique, Mauricio and her team estimate the mural is between 3,000 and 4,000 years old—putting it among the earlier known examples of large, decorated ceremonial wall art in the Americas.

Why does style matter here? Because coastal Peru produced several later, visually bold cultures—Chavín, Moche, Cupisnique—each with strong symbolic vocabularies tied to water, animals, and the sky. This mural’s mix of marine and celestial motifs suggests that certain symbolic concerns—how people thought about sea, sky, and ritual—had deep, shared roots long before the well-known classical cultures. In other words: the mural may be an early chapter in a long regional conversation that later cultures continued.

More:
https://omgsogd.com/2025/08/pre-inca-polychrome-mural-at-huaca-yolanda-a-3000-year-old-masterpiece-of-stars-and-fishes/